Preet's Overreach, Again

https://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2014/07/preet-overreach-again

Andrew Cuomo is not anywhere close to being on my list of favorite politicians, but even as someone who is not generally a fan of his I have to say I think it's a bit much for the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, to issue a letter to the governor warning him about how he treated an ethics commission he created: "we must consider whether such actions constitute obstruction of justice or tampering with witnesses that violate federal law."

If Mr. Bharara wants to run for governor against Mr. Cuomo on a clean-up-Albany platform he is free to do so, or if he wants to try to bring a criminal or civil case against him, he can try and attempt to convince a judge or a jury of that. But writing a letter like that and transparently leaking it to the press isn't law enforcement, it's politics. It's similar to the insider trading investigations, in which Mr. Bharara found an issue that was popular with the press (rich crooked insider traders, corrupt or unethical Albany politicians) and took it beyond the law into a politically motivated, agenda-driven initiative. Not only does it not accomplish anything in terms of cleaning up Albany, even worse, it degrades the reputation of the U.S. attorney's office, from impartial professionals to headline-driven, herd mentality political players.